Inspiring you to live your Ideal Life!

Weight Loss and Illness

Happy new year everyone! It’s been a fair few days since I have been able to write a new blog post. My weekly schedule went out the window for the end of 2016. The reason was because I was sick (I firmly believe this was 2016 giving me one last kick in the side – thank goodness it’s 2017 now!) I have a chronic illness that can flare up whenever it wants and it decided to flare just in time for the holidays! I am over it now and feeling but better. But, it made think what happens when you are on the path to a healthier lifestyle and you get sick?

I have a chronic illness that can flare up whenever it wants and it decided to flare just in time for the holidays! I am over it now and feeling much better. But, it made think what happens when you are on the path to a healthier lifestyle and you get sick?

I have been following the Ideal Protein protocol for well over a year now, and this is the first time illness has stopped the protocol for me. I was unprepared for my daily routine to be interrupted so fully. I couldn’t workout, I couldn’t go to work, and I definitely could not eat in the way I have become a custom. I was put on medication that I had to have a pretty substantial amount of food on my stomach for (so it wouldn’t make me even sicker) and it made me put on water weight…about 20 pounds of it! (Thankfully all that water weight is gone now!) Not only was I not feeling well, but I was also freaking out because I felt like I was ruining all the progress I had made with my healthy lifestyle.

Not only was I not feeling well, but I was also freaking out because I felt like I was ruining all the progress I had made with my healthy lifestyle.

Having just been through this ordeal I thought I would share with you some things I realized…and wished I would have known at the beginning. No matter whether you have a chronic illness like me or simply catch a cold or flu use these tips to get through it.

You’re sick…there is nothing you can do about it except see a doctor if necessary and let your immune system do its thing. Control is not something a person has when they are sick.

Some medications will cause your body to do more stupid things besides being sick. Again, there is nothing you can do except go with it. In the end, your body will even itself back out.

Half of being physically sick is mental. Don’t get down on yourself! Just try to relax and realize that you can jump right back on the healthy lifestyle train as soon as you feel better. IT IS OK TO TAKE A BREAK 🙂 If you can’t give yourself permission now when can you?

If you are doing Ideal Protein or other diet program talk to your coaches. They will have plenty of recommendations and ideas on how to get through this.

Make the best decisions you can at the time. I think this rule applies 99% of the time when you are trying to be healthier. Just because you are sick doesn’t mean you have to eat a whole bag of Oreos. But, if something like a piece of fruit or chicken noodle soup (like the real stuff, not the IP packet!) will make you feel better I say go for it!

Keep up your water intake. Staying hydrated will help your immune system get rid of toxins, regulate fevers, and keep nausea from getting worse.

Realize that, in the long run, all the healthy changes you have made thus far are to improve your overall health. The time you spend being sick is a small fraction compared to the healthy body you will have for the rest of your life!

I feel like illness is something that could totally derail any healthy lifestyle plan you are on. It’s just a matter of if you let it happen.

What other tips, tricks, or realizations do you have for being sick…while trying to live a healthy lifestyle?

Topics

Author

Welcome to My Beautiful Ideal

Hello my name is Jamie Boden, the author of My Beautiful Ideal! I started this blog to celebrate my journey to find my own beautiful ideal. Will I ever obtain it? Probably not! But, with a bit of optimism I hope to live the best life possible and share all my tips, tricks, failures, and successes with you!